The emergent two-dimensional (2D) layered magnets [1,2] provide ideal platforms to enable the atomically thin magneto-optical and magnetoelectric devices. Though many have envisioned that 2D magnets should allow efficient control of magnetism by a variety of external stimuli, true breakthroughs are still lacking, with limited proof-of-concept demonstrations reported thus far. There appear to be fundamental obstacles for efficient control, e.g., through electrical and optical means. In this talk I will analyze the challenges and present our theoretical and experimental progress on efficient electrical [3-7] and optical control [8,9] of 2D magnets. Specifically, the results show that the voltage of a few volts can effectively change the magnetic anisotropy of 2D magnets and the laser shinning of tens of uW/um2 can effectively affect the domain behaviors of 2D magnets. These efficient controls of 2D magnets potentially open up new avenues towards low-power spintronics and photonics.

1.     C. Gong et al. Nature 546, 265-269 (2017).
2.     C. Gong, X. Zhang. Science 363, eaav4450 (2019).
3.     C. Gong, et al. Nature Communications 10, 2657 (2019).
4.     S.-J. Gong, et al. PNAS 115, 8511 (2018).
5.     E.-W. Du, et al. Nano Letters 20, 7230 (2020).
6.     S. Liang, et al. Nature Electronics 6, 199-205 (2023).
7.     Q. Wang, et al. Matter 5, 4425-4436 (2022).
8.     Y. Gong, et al. npj 2D Materials and Applications 6, 9 (2022).
9.     T. Xie, et al. under review (2023).